Stitch separating machine



W. S. ROBSON STITCH SEPARATING MACHINE May 10, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 29, 1947 Inventor /Villiam ,S Ro-bsom May10, 1949- w. s. RoBsoN 2,469,477

STITCH SEPARATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 29, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 32 f34Inventor uw www S. Robson 6 /zl' n @y 36 5 Patented May 10, 1949 UNITEDSTAT ENT OFFICE STITCH SEE'ARATING MACHINE Application August 29, 1947,Serial No. 77 1,311 In Great Britain October 11, 1946 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to shoe machines and is herein illustrated in itsapplication to stitch separating machines of the type illustrated inUnited States Letters Patent No. 1,357,511, granted November 2, 1920, onan application led in the name of Frederick H. Perry. It is to beunderstood, however, that the invention is not limited in scope tostitch separating machines but is equally applicable to other types ofshoe machines and particularly to machines having heated Work-engagingelements.

Stitch separating machines of the type herein illustrated and describedoperate upon the stitches in the outwardly extending margin of the soleportion of a shoe to indent the intervals between the portions of thestitches appearing on the upper surface of said extension.

The stitches in the extension of the sole portion of a shoe are usuallytreated with wax and,

for this reason, it has been found desirable to apply heat to the stitchseparating tool in order to soften the portions of the stitches engagedby said tool sufficiently to make them respond readily to its operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide suitable means forconducting electricity to an electrical element mounted on the toolholder of a shoe machine. More particularly, it is the object of theinvention to provide suitable means 'for heating the stitch separatingtool of a machine of the type above referred to.

With the above objects in view, the invention in one aspect thereofconsists in the combination with the elements of a shoe machine having awork engaging such, for example, as a heating unit, mounted on the toolholder and means for conducting electricity to said electrical element,including a fine, exible, non-resilient wire for conducting electricityto said element from -a terminal on the carrier which mounts saidholder, and a resilient conductor for conducing electricity from a fixedterminal on the machine frame to the terminal on said carrier. The newire flexes very readily and offers no appreciable resistance to freerelative movement of the holder and the carrier incidental to thelocation of the tool relatively to the work. In the illustrated machinesuch relative movement is of such slight magnitude that said wire,although fine, will continue its slight tool of an electrical element,

flexing action for a long time without breaking. The carrier is operatedby power and consequently a resilient vconductor which will withstandsubstantial flexing for a long period of time may be used to conductelectricity from the fixed terminal to the terminal on the carrier.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing mechanism embodying the presentinvention incorporated in a machine of the type illustrated in thepatent above referred to;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation similar to Fig. l illustrating said mechanismin greater detail and omitting the showing of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation illustrating certain details of construction;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation illustrating the tool holder and associatedparts; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the heating units inrelation to a portion of the tool holder.

The illustrated machine is provided with an operating member or toolconstructed and arranged to engage the upper face of the eXtension ofthe sole portion of a shoe supported upon a rotary table, and to exert adownward and .L inward pressure between adjacent outsole-attachingstitches thereby to separate the stitches and indent said extensionwidthwise thereof in order to give it a pleasing appearance.

The illustrative machine has a rotary work table 2 (Fig. 1A), twopresser feet of which one is shown at l in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, and a toolholder 6 to which a stitch-separating tool 8 is secured. A rear endportion of the tool holder 5 carries a small upright pin I (Fig. 2) 'bymeans of which the tool holder 6 is pivotally mounted on an intermediatemember i. The member l2 is pvotally mounted on a short stud I4 securedto a carrier i6. The carrier I6 itself is mounted on a rock shaft I8carried by two connected arms, 33 and 35, mounted on a shaft (not shown)journaled in the frame. The arrangement is such that, during theoperation of the machine upon upstanding stitches visible upon the weltW of a welted Shoe S, the arms 33 and 35 are operated to press rthe tool8 downwardly between adjacent stitches of 3 the seam. During suchpressure the member I2 swings slightly about the stud I4, against theaction of a tension spring 24 connecting an upstanding ear 26 on themember I2 to an ear 28 on the carrier I6.

The tool 8 is reciprocated by the operation of the rock shaft I8 to feedthe work step by step in a horizontal direction. For this purpose thecarrier I6 has a depending ear 30 (Fig. 2) secured thereto which isactuated by a cam (not shown) whereby the carrier I6 is swung about theaxis of the shaft I8 to cause the tool 8 to feed the work step by stepfrom righ-t to left across the front of the machine, return movement ofthe tool being effected by a spring (not shown).

In order to cause the tool 8 to be positioned between two adjacentstitehes preparatory to the stitch-separating operation, the carrier I6,prior` to each feed step, is given a small oscillatory motion in thedirection of feed by a cam (not shown). In the course of thisoscillation of the carrier the tool will enter the space between twoadjacent stitches. In order that the tool will not be dislodged by theoscillation of the carrier after it has been correctly positionedrelatively to the Work the tool holder 6 is freely mounted on the pin Iso as to permit the carrier I6 to oscillate without moving the toolholder. In order to maintain proper registration of the tool relativelyto the Work when the tool is out of work-engaging position, leaf springs32 and 34 (Fig. 4) secured to the carrier I6 engage poppets 36 and 38positioned at opposite sides of the holder 6 and mounted in the carrier,said springs being sumciently weak to permit the tool to remain in itsoperating position on the work once it has been so located.

The construction and operation of the mechanism above described and ofthose portions of the machine not herein described are fully set forthin the patent hereinbefore referred to.

The tool 8 is heated by two parallel windings 40 and 42 of N'ichromewire (Fig. 5), the total resistance of each winding being about ohms.Each winding is wound upon an insulating strip 44 and enclosed in anenvelope of mica 46. The windings 40 and d2 are secured to oppositesides of a central portion of the holder 6, which is wrapped with mica50, by screws 54 extending through cover plates 52. One end of each ofthe windings 4l) and i2 is grounded to the holder 6 and the other end ofeach winding is connected to a nickel wire 56 which is very ne andexible but substantially non-resilient. The wires 56, 56 are encased inan asbestos sleeve 58 and pass up over the carrier I6 (Fig. 4) to aninsulated terminal 60 (Fig. 3), hereinafter referred to as the rstterminal, mounted on a terminal block 62 on the opposite side of thecarrier. Alongside the terminal 60 there is mounted on the block 62 aterminal 64 which is not insulated from the carrier i6 but is groundedthereto.

From each of the terminals 66, 64 a conductor, which is preferably aphosphor bronze strip 66, 68, extends upwardly and curves over the topof the carrier I6 (Fig. 4) and then down to a terminal block lil, 'I2 ona plate 13 secured to the machine frame 22 (Fig. 1). The terminal block10, hereinafter referred to as the second terminal, to which the stript6 is secured, is insulated from 0 the plate i3 and the terminal blockl2 is grounded 7 to said plate. The terminal blocks i0, 12 are connectedto a suitable source of electricity. A suitable sheet metal guard may beprovided to enclose the strips 66, 68. When the current is turned on,the tool 8 is heated by about 100 watts, which has been found to beadequate for the purpose in view.

With the arrangement described the ne, flexible nickel wires 56, 5S donot substantially restrict relative movement of the tool 8 and thecarrier IS when such movement is required in the operation of themachine, but such relative movement is small and does not impose muchconr tinued flexing on the wires '56, 56. Early failure of the latterdue to wear is thereby avoided. On the other hand the strips 66, 68which are of a character more readily able to withstand continuedflexing, but which, if joined to the tool holder 6 directly, wouldsubstantially impede relative movement of the tool holder and thecarrier are joined to the carrier which is driven by the power of themachine and the movement of which is not readily restricted by suchstrips.

In the illustrative machine electrical means is also provided forheating the work table 2 which means consists of a resistance bobbinmounted in a support 'ill for the work table and dissipating about 20watts. This small amount of power is adequate to heat the table 2sufliciently to prevent undue accumulation of wax thereon.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In a shoe machine, the combination with a member constructed andarranged to operate 0n the upper surface of the extension of the soleportion of a shoe, a holder in which said member is mounted, a carrier,means connecting the holder to the carrier constructed and arranged topermit free relative movement of said parts and means mounting thecarrier for work feeding movement, of an electrical element mounted onthe holder, said element having a first end grounded, a first terminalmounted on the carrier, a second terminal secured in a xed position, ane, flexible, non-resilient wire for conducting electricity from saidfirst terminal to a second end of said electrical element, and aresilient conductor for conducting electricity from said second terminalto said first terminal.

In a shoe machine, the combination with a stitch separating tool, aholder in which said tool is mounted, a carrier, means mounting theholder on the carrier constructed and arranged to permit free relativemovement of the carrier and the holder about a rst axis, and meansmounting the carrier for movement about a second axis, of an electricalheating unit mounted on said holder, said unit having a rst endgrounded, a first terminal mounted on the carrier, a second terminalsecured in a fixed position, a line, fiexible, nonresilient wireconstructed and arranged to conduct electricity from said first terminalto a second end of said heating unit, and a relatively heavy resilientconductor constructed and arranged to conduct electricity from saidsecond terminal to said first terminal.

WILLIAM sELwYN ROBSON.

No references cited.

